


but who’s going to protect you?

by IncognitoPhenomenon



Series: The Trollhunters AUs Train [1]
Category: Trollhunters (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, a really shitty one shot, but it's angsty as fuck, but the ending will be a soft surprise because i'm a coward, i named the word file i wrote this in "everything is really fucking bad", if that doesn't make you feel apprehensive yet then oh boy, people fucking die and are tortured and it's a fun time, the kids suffer horribly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 15:58:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13251618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IncognitoPhenomenon/pseuds/IncognitoPhenomenon
Summary: Sometimes, things are just worse.But sometimes, it all ends well.





	but who’s going to protect you?

**Author's Note:**

> This is a really crappy one shot, not proofread or anything. Things are everywhere. Beware.
> 
> But enjoy the torment I put these kids through! =)
> 
> here's a good [song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FATKhkXsp-0) to listen to while reading this  
> also i was heavily inspired by writer mysterytwins who also does trollhunters stories... please go read their stuff i'm begging you it's so good

"but who’s going to protect you?"

* * *

 

It was a simple plan, really. Suggest that Barbara Lake, his mother, invite Strickler over for dinner. He’ll be away for the night with friends, and he’ll leave some food for the both of them, which was an entire full course meal that they could easily heat up. There was even going to be desert in the fridge.

He and the rest of the gang would be hiding in the basement. Jim was going to sneak in and put extra strong cough syrup into their tea, which would knock them both out cold. If that didn’t work, then he’ll stomp twice, alerting the others to take Plan B. Plan B was quickly going up to knock Strickler out, which might knock out and hurt _his_ mom, too, but they already agreed that it would be for the greater good.

Then Jim would take the ring, and ta-dah! Angor’s either controlled or off the equation, and they can force Strickler to give them the spell to break his bond with his mom.

Yet, there was one problem. Angor Rot was still an unpredictable variable – Strickler could call him with the ring at the slightest of suspicion and cause chaos, if the assassin wouldn’t be taking guard in the first place.

The worst possible outcome was his mom getting killed, or badly hurt.

The latter happened.

It was supposed to be a _simple_ and _clean_ plan, nothing _wrong_ would happen, everyone would be _okay_.

His mom got knocked out by the cough syrup, but Strickler didn’t – which NotEnrique predicted would happen because of his changeling biology, so they were just about to go with Plan B when Jim sneaked out and pretended to arrive home.

Words were exchanged as Jim bluffed perfectly, accusing Strickler of knocking his mother out to bargain with Jim.

But it didn’t go the way Jim wanted. Strickler transformed.

And then right before what could’ve been a killing blow, his would-be killer gasped and stopped, his expression antsy and mouth open with quivering lips.

 

* * *

 

 

When Strickler fell to his knees screaming and grasping at his leg, Jim immediately knew something was very, very wrong, and that same something had to do with his mother.

 _No, no. It can’t be_ , he thought when he looked over the changeling’s shoulder.

It just couldn’t be.

His best friend stood there, face unreadable, holding a knife coated in Jim’s mother’s blood.

 

* * *

 

Behind them, Toby’s entire form shook upon realizing the gravity of what he’d just done. A heavy feeling knotted in his stomach, worse than a kick or a punch. Worse than anything he’d felt before.

 _He just betrayed his best friend. He just stabbed his best friend’s mother in the leg_. _Oh god_.

But he HAD to, didn’t he? He was going to DIE – Strickler was going to kill him, right? Did he do the right thing? Should he have just attacked Strickler instead? No, there was no time – but _was_ there?

_What did he just do?_

He expected the worst, and the worst came in the form of Jim’s eyes filled with horror and betrayal.

 

* * *

 

 

Jim held the Inferna Copula with intense deliberation. He had it now. He could put Angor Rot under his control or give it to the assassin and let him go on his merry way, then force Strickler to do the spell to break the bond between him and his mom. Better now that Strickler himself sat there, under the watch of Aaarrrgghh and Claire.

But he couldn’t think about all of that. The only thing he could think about was how his best friend hurt his mother, how deep it stung.

Toby looked like he wanted to say something, but he simply sat there, eyes cast down and clouded over with guilt.

_Right. Guilt._

Something within him _burst_. His entire body shuddered with a red rage, and it was directed completely at Tobes – no, _Toby_. His fists clenched and his teeth gnawed.

It was then that Claire seemingly noticed, because she ran to his side and grabbed his forearm, eyes saying no, he could talk this out.

He almost shrugged her off and punched Toby when a familiar figure came smashing in through the window.

 

* * *

 

Jim, realizing Angor was behind him, quickly rolled away from a strike of his stolen blade of Daylight right as his hands were on the ring.

In doing so, Angor Rot unwittingly destroyed his own soul.

The ancient troll assassin’s eyes changed from a threatening yellow into a lifeless white. They turned to Jim, and a rage quickly filled the place of the horror in Angor’s face.

He leaped to strike once more.

 

* * *

 

Angor Rot’s remains were crumbled and strewn about the floor.

His mother woke up in the middle of the battle, but Blinky managed to drag her away from the chaos ensuing in her home’s living room. So, she was fine, as fine as one could be with a knife wound in their leg.

But...

Aaarrrgghh was dead.

He took a blow meant for Toby. Jim would’ve stopped him, but – but something stopped _him_ , instead.

Something had shifted between the two of them, both realized.

Something terrible.

As Jim’s mother sat by the table, distressed, confused, and more importantly, in pain, Blinky comforted her and gave her the entire story. But instead, it seemed more like Blinky was trying to comfort himself.

_Aaaarrgghh was dead._

His stone body stood in the hall. Its presence alone commandeered silence as the air around them became heavy and full of dread.

After what seemed like an eternity of grief, Jim quietly willed himself to walk away.

Toby took notice and tried to stop him, but the Trollhunter’s hand shot up, flat, and in refusal.

“ _Don’t._ ”

No one could stop him from walking out the door.

 

* * *

 

The bond between Strickler and Barbara had been broken.

It could have been a cause for celebration, if it weren’t for the great loss that happened for it to be accomplished.

Then Jim entered the Darklands, alone.

When this news reached the rest of the Trollhunters, nothing would ever be the same.

Toby would never be the same.

 _Is this my fault_?

 

* * *

 

Claire didn’t come back.

Water rushed in from the portal, along with NotEnrique and the last bridge piece, but Claire didn’t come back.

She was all alone there, left in the depths of the ocean, to drown.

A strangled scream came from Toby’s throat and devolved into despairing sobs.

_This is all my fault._

 

* * *

 

Both Jim and Claire were now considered missing.

Her parents _fought_ for answers, going so far as to bang on Toby’s front door, demanding him to tell them where their daughter was.

All he could give them were the same words - no, lies - he’d given the police, accompanied by another set of tears.

“We tried to save Jim.”

 _But we couldn’t, and it’s all my fault_ , were the only words left unspoken, and he realized they weren’t really lies after all.

 

* * *

 

Aaarrrgghh was back. Somehow, they did the impossible, and they brought Aaarrgghh back.

But when they told him Jim left for the Darklands alone and that Claire was dead, the despair on his face only served as a sobering reminder of their circumstances.

 

* * *

 

Kanjigar appeared to them, giving them hope in the form of a prophecy, but then he trailed off.

“Where is Claire Nuñez?”

They told him of her fate, and then that blistering positivity in his eyes were replaced with an impossible terror.

“ _She’s supposed to be alive. How could this be?_ ”

The hope stirring in Toby’s chest abruptly faded with a loud pop, leaving him emptier than before.

 

* * *

 

They found him, imprisoned but lightened up at the sight of his friends.

For a second, it was almost as if everything was going to be fine now, that they would escape, that they could go back to their ordinary lives as teenagers with ordinary problems, as if Toby hadn’t stabbed his best friend’s mother.

But then Jim asked the same thing Kanjigar had.

“Where’s Claire?”

Toby couldn’t give an answer, and instead gripped him tight, trying to fight back the tears.

“I’m sorry, Jim. I’m sorry.”

For the third time that day, Toby blamed himself for everything.

 

* * *

 

“Go, run! I’ll buy you all time,” Toby announced.

Everyone stopped to look at him, their eyes full of disbelief.

“ _What?!_ No!” Jim vehemently refused. “No, we are _not_ leaving you behind!”

He looked back to Gunmar and his approaching army, and then back to his friends.

“It wasn’t a request.”

Toby struck the nearest wall with his hammer, causing the tunnel to cave in, blocking them all off from him.

Jim screamed his name, but it was cut off.

Something shakily escaped him in the form of a pent up breath as he turned to face the oncoming horde.

“Sorry, Jimbo,” he said, sobbing, fully expecting himself to be slaughtered. “This is something I have to do.”

_Because it’s all my fault._

* * *

 

In another time, had Jim escaped the Darklands, he would’ve greeted the fresh air with exhilaration and peace. He would’ve embraced his friends, full of joy.

But instead, Jim fell to his knees, bloody, bruised, beaten, and full of despair, unable to appreciate the morning he never had in that land of darkness.

If anything, being in there was better than the reality he was trying to cope with.

_Claire and Tobes are... gone._

_They’re both dead, and it’s because of me._

_Because it’s all my fault._

* * *

 

When he was declared guilty of letting Gunmar roam free and was banished into The Deep, Jim didn’t even fight back.

In the darkness, there was nothing.

Nothing stopped him from throwing the amulet down there as he let himself sob, cries of complete and utter shame escaping his soul.

_I wish I never picked you up in the first place._

Then a light came to him offering a second chance, and he took it.

 

* * *

 

“I’m the Trollhunter,” Jim tells himself as the last of his tears break free of his eyes, “amulet or not.”

In this world, he had been given a second chance to be with his friends and his mom again.

But in this world, disaster struck, and he lost everything yet again.

And yet... he couldn’t find it in himself to give up. Not again. Not ever.

The amulet chose him, and it was his responsibility.

This time, he wouldn’t lose anyone else.

_Never again._

 

* * *

 

They had fully expected Gunmar and his army to be in the lair of the Janus Order, but they found nothing.

Nothing, but a shooting star of gleaming hope, striking their faces with an abrupt ferocity that it just _couldn’t_ be true.

But it was, and he wore a crappy diamond-patterned sweater vest.

They found him, bloody, bruised, and beaten within an inch of his life, clutching a bloody hammer, but _alive_.

To his right was the dead body of Otto Scarbaach.

He looked... lost. The pudginess that Jim, Blinky, and Aaarrgghh all came to love was still there, but some of it was gone, clearly having been starved. Bags were underneath his only working eye, as his right eye had a bandage, and some of his fingers were gone as well.

But he was _here,_ right _here,_ in front of them.

When his name crawled out of Jim’s throat in a small tone, his best friend looked up and gave them the most hopeful thing they’ve had in ages.

“Jimbo?”

Jim rushed to him and scooped him up in a hug, and the others joined suit.

He was here, right here, and alive, and they couldn’t be anymore happier.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” were the only things Toby could say. “I’m so sorry for _everything_.”

After a moment, Jim pulled away. “What did they _do_ to you?”

Toby was silent, but then Aaarrgghh butted his shoulder with his head, strange tears littering the sides of his eyes.

Toby smiled like he hadn’t smiled in years.

“I never gave in. I couldn’t- I didn’t want to tell them anything. And they did-“ -he breathed harshly, the pain of his old wounds becoming numb- “they did _so much_ to me, but I never gave up, I- I didn’t want Gunmar to find you or hurt you. And then...”

He trailed off, and looked at Otto’s body. Tears started falling.

“He came in and told me that- that they _killed_ you, Jimbo. That Gunmar got to you. I-I thought I failed. I thought I really messed up, big time, and I would _never_ see you again. I was SO angry, I- I _killed-“_

Jim interrupted him with another hug.

“I’m sorry, too, Tobes,” he cried. “but you’re here, and you’re alive. I’m not letting go of you ever again.”

Something had shifted between the two of them, both realized.

Something hopeful.

 

* * *

 

The gates closed on the Gyre, closing them in with Gunmar’s army and a possessed Draal, only stopped by a slowly breaking down barrier.

For a second time that day, Jim thought that everything was lost.

And then purple magic filled the air, and of all things-

Claire, alive and not dead in the ocean’s depths, floated down from a cloud in a witch’s robe, holding her beloved Shadowstaff.

 

* * *

 

“I’m the Pale Lady’s acolyte. Or her new champion or something, I guess.”

Moonlight shone upon the newly reunited trio, the forest breeze whizzing by and whispering in their ears. The surviving trolls listened intently to Blinky as he gave out his plan to resettle out in the forest, Aaarrgghh by his side and interrupting him with a soft nuzzle ever so often. They also apparently had new allies in Steve and Eli, who were shocked at the sight of Toby and Claire.

It didn’t hurt to have more friends, just as long as they don’t end up dying.

... Jim mentally slapped himself for even thinking that.

“Her new _champion_? Oh geez, that’s gotta be bad,” Toby commented. Though overjoyed by her return just like the others, he couldn’t refrain from making another of his usual worries. Usual Tobes... Jim really _never_ was going to let go of him again, neither with Claire. “But... how’d you survive the ocean? I thought you died.”

“She saved me, TP. And she let me save you guys when I found out what was happening, but... I have to go back. I... my soul is pretty much hers to control at this point, so...”

Jim gave a patient sigh, and held her shoulder. “I understand. But I’m just glad you’re alive.”

Claire smiled, and if the chemistry wasn’t as strong as it was at that moment, Toby wouldn’t’ve stepped back until the two of them suddenly kissed.

Kissed, for the first time. For _real_. Because this was all _real_.

When the two lovebirds let go, they were met with a brightly grinning Toby.

As if to dispel the awkward feeling in the air, Claire quickly asked, “So, how’d you get the eyepatch?”

Toby triumphantly put his arms to his waist. “Torture. Not a good time. But I killed Otto, at least.”

Claire’s face transformed into abject horror.

“But hey, we’re all alive, right...?” Toby remarked, failing to even bring up the mood by a notch.

Usual Tobes and Claire. Usual Blinky and Aaargghh.

But things are different, this time.

He was never going to let go of them ever again.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm a coward. i couldn't kill them


End file.
